Present
day Rehoboth is an agricultural community located in
Southeastern Massachusetts. It also serves as a bedroom community to
both Providence and Boston and covers approximately 48 square
miles in area. It has changed size, shape, and even
location, dramatically since its first days.

Rehoboth was one of the first towns in
America. Court records show the area was settled as early as 1625.
In 1641 the Court of Plymouth authorized Samuel Newman to
purchase the original tract called "Eight
Mile Square" in "Seacunk", (now in Rumford, RI.).
This was the first land transfer in the area that was recognized
by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1643 Mr. Newman established his
community and called
the area Rehoboth. The original 1643 compound of Rehoboth, known
as the "Ring of the Town", is shown below.

The map above
was recreated from information derived from page 34 of the
book "Newman Congregational Church, U.C.C. of Seekonk and
East Providence".

The Meeting House of the Newman
Congregational Church, then known as the First Church of
Rehoboth, was erected in 1646. Just prior to that on
June 4, 1645, the town of Rehoboth, comprising a much larger area, was
incorporated.

Due to its sheer size,
Rehoboth was hard to manage through town
meetings. Almost as a matter of need, sections of it began to incorporate into other
cities and towns. The present day locales of Attleboro, Seekonk,
Cumberland, East Providence and North Attleboro were all part of the
early town of Rehoboth. Substantial portions of Pawtucket, and
parts of Swansea, Woonsocket and Barrington were as
well.

Ironically
Rehoboth now has more in common with nearby Dighton than with
any of its original parts. They share a regional school district
and both depend heavily on agriculture.

The
map above shows Rehoboth at its largest total area. The section
marked off by the dotted lines is the original incorporated
area.

Anyone
researching their Rehoboth roots from afar would be hard pressed to know
that their ancestor who was buried in Rehoboth may actually have their
gravestone in another state. Local researchers could easily make the same
mistake and Historians could skew their information. For those reasons, we
felt it was necessary to collect the information from all of the components of Rehoboth in one central area. That is the goal of the Old
Rehoboth site.

Please
note that there are conflicting accounts of who the first
European Settler to the area really was. Some say it was William
Blaxton (Blackstone) while others say it was John Hazell, Roger
Williams, or Samuel Newman. It is
quite possible that this confusion is because of the dramatic
changes in the boundaries and size of the area known as
Rehoboth. It may also be attributed to the fact that Rehoboth
was also the name for the defunct community started by Roger
Williams before he fled and founded Rhode Island. After some in-
depth research of the early history books for the area, it is
apparent
to us that the first European Settler to Old Rehoboth as well as
Rhode Island was William
Blackstone (about 1634). He was also the first European Settler of Boston
(about 1624).

Disclaimer:
Neither the OldRehoboth site nor its associated forum is owned by,
controlled by, or connected with the Newman Congregational Church, the Antiquarian Society, the Rehoboth
Land Trust, the Town of Rehoboth, or any of its committees, boards,
councils or departments. The information contained in this website is subject
to copyright. It has been researched and contributed by members of the
OldRehoboth forum or their associates. We make no guarantees as to the
accuracy of information that you will find here or on associated links.
Take notice that some of the websites that we link to may require
membership, affiliations, or fees to access the information. Some
pages on this site may have access restricted to members of the
OldRehoboth forum.